Written By: Longjam Dineshwori | Updated : November 17, 2020 9:42 AM IST
2024 तक भारत के हर नागरिक तक पहुंचेगी कोरोना की वैक्सीन : एसआईआई
The Drugs Controller General of India (DGCI) has given approval to another Indian pharmaceutical company to start clinical trial of its Covid-19 vaccine. Hyderabad-based Biological E. Ltd (BE) on Monday announced that it has initiated Phase 1/2 clinical trials of its Covid-19 subunit vaccine candidate in the country following DGCI approval.
BE is developing the vaccine in collaboration with US-based Dynavax and Baylor College of Medicine, a health sciences university in Houston.
The Phase 1/2 clinical trials will evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of the vaccine candidate. The vaccine will be given to about 360 healthy subjects in the age range of 18 to 65 years, BE said in a statement.
The results of the trials are expected to be available by February 2021.
The vaccine consists of an antigen in-licensed from BCM Ventures, Baylor College of Medicine's integrated commercialisation team, and Dynavax's advanced adjuvant CpG 1018.
"CpG 1018's potential to boost the immune response to produce more antibodies and longer lasting immunity may minimise the dose of antigen needed, enabling vaccination of a greater number of people," IANS quoted Ryan Spencer, Chief Executive Officer of Dynavax, as saying.
Each study participant will be administered two doses of the vaccine via intramuscular injection 28 days apart.
"We are very happy indeed to transition our potential vaccine candidate to clinical trials and offer one more potential option for the prophylaxis of Covid-19," asserted Mahima Datla, Managing Director, Biological E. Ltd, in a report by the news agency.
About 20 coronavirus vaccines are in the different stages of developments in India, Union Minister of Health Dr Harsh Vardhan said on Saturday at 8th BRICS STI Ministerial Meeting.
Two of these vaccines - COVAXIN and COVISHIELD are in the final clinical trial stage, he added.
COVAXIN, which is India's first indigenous COVID vaccine, is developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). According to Krishna Ella, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharat Biotech, the company is also working on another Covid-19 vaccine which would be in the form of nasal drops. It is expected to be ready by next year.
Pune-based Serum Institute of India is conducting Phase 2/3 trials of the Oxford University's coronavirus vaccine, dubbed Covishield in India. The company is aiming to have one 100 million doses of the shot ready by December.
Another Indian pharma major Dr Reddy's Laboratories is expected to complete phase two trials of Russian Sputnik V vaccine in December.
The Indian government has announced a USD 120 million grant for COVID-19 vaccine research.
Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 cases in the country has jumped to 88,45,127, according to latest data on the Union Health Ministry website.
So far, over one lakh people have lost their lives to the new disease. There was a bit relief post Diwali on Monday, as the number of confirmed cases dropped to 30,548, which is the lowest reported since the mid of July.
Globally, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has reached 53,766,728 including 1,308,975 deaths, as per the World Health Organization (WHO) data.
